Trackless vehicle



may w, w27. H. A KNOX TRACKLES S VEHICLE Filed Nov.

Patmed May *17, 1927.

HAEEY A. xNox, or DAVENPORT, IOWA. Y

TRACK-nnss VEHICLE.

Applic'ation'led November 8, 19,24. Serial No. 748,891.

(GRANTED UNDR THE ACT QF MARCH 3, 1883; 22 STAT. T5625.)

The vinvention described herein may be used' by the Government, or anyof4 its officersor employees in prosecution of work forfthe Government,or by any other person in lthe United States, without payment to meo'fany royalty thereon, in accordance With the act of March 3, 1883.

The subj ect of this invention is a trackless vehicle. Y

In employing trackless vehicles for cross country traveling it has beenproposed to specially equip the vehicle with additional wheels for thepurpose of increasing the area' of ground contact so that the unitground pressure will be sufficiently low to support the "vehicle underordinary cross country conditions.

Obviously the unit pressure is proportional to'the number of supportingwheels utilized and the presentr invention .aims to provide aconstruction which will permit the largest practical number of eitherdriving or supporting wheels. It is also apparent that becauseof theirregularities encountered in cross country running it is essential toyieldingly mount the wheels from road bed.

the axle so that they may independently adjust themselves to anyvertical position according to they character or contour of theAccording to the invention there!` is providedl a vehicle bodyyieldingly suspended on the rear axle which in turn 1s supported ateither end by independent truck units having an oscillato movementrelative to "the axle. Each truc unit consists of a plurality vof groupsof wheelsarranged in series, each group including la pair of successivewheels mounted for independent oscillatory movement with respect to theother group.` 1 To these and other ends my invention consists in theconstruction, arrangement, and 'combination of elements, describedherein after and. pointed out in/ the claims forming a part ofthisspeciication.

A practical embodiment of`my, invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, wherein:

tion of a motor vehicle equipped with running gear constructed inaccordance with the invention; and u F 1g. 2 is a plan view of a truckunit showmg the meansfor driving the Wheels.

Referring to the drawings by numerals of Y n. 4

reference: v

In carrying ont the invention there is provided a rear axle 11 lhavingseats 12 for springs 13 which are connected to the main frame 14 andbody 15 of the vehicle.

The axle is supported at eitherv end by independent truck units, eachunit-'comprising a mam frame consisting' of parallel beams 16?'16 eachbeing provided centrally with a bearing 17 by which it is mounted foroscillatory movement upon the axle 11. The beams are also provided withend bearings 18 in which are mounted bars or shafts 19 which serve tospace the beams.

Pivotally mounted on the` bars 19 are bogey frames 20 similar to themain frame 16-16 except on a diminutive scale and more sharply inclined.Inasmuch as the bogey frames 2O ,directl carry the load they arestrengthened by a liar 21 between their end bearings 22 which supportthe axles 23 of the wheels 24., The wheels are preferably equipped withballoon tires of any conventional type.

It"will be readily apparent that if desired the axles of the bogeyframes might be made to similarly mount vadditional auxiliary framesthereby doubling the number of wheels in each vtruck unit.

The wheels maybe driven through chains Y -ably connected fsprockets 27,28, and 29 mounted on the bars or side of the outer end bearings 18 tochains 30-31 which/are vtrained on a sprocket- 32 on each of the wheelaxles 23.

The truck unit is guided and limited in its oscillatory movement bymeans of pilots 33 depending `from the frame 14 and passing throughapertures in lprojections 34 on shafts 19 on eitherl Fig. 1 is afragmentary view in side eleva.- the inner endY bearings 18. '.Chains 35at- 100 ot the rear wheel ot' its group according to' the nature of theobstruction. lll/'hen the foremost group is on the incline a similaraction will be conveyed through the main trame 16-16 to the succeeding.group or groups, depending on the number of groups in a truck unit. Whenthe foremost wheel or groups passesl over the crest of the obstructionthe bogey or main truck trame, as the case may be, is free to swing inthe opposite direction thereby reversing the direction ot verticalmovement oit the wheels and enabling each wheel of each group to at alltimes yloe in contact with the road.

While in the foregoing there has been illustrated and described suchcombination and arrangement 4ot elements as constitute the preferredembodiment of my invention, it isv nevertheless desired to emphasize thetact that interpretation of the invention neaaove should only beconclusive when made in the light or the subjoined claims.

l claim:

1. A truck unit for motor ,vehicles emhodying a main frame adapted to becentrally pivoted on an end of the vehicle axle, auxiliaryramescentrally pivoted on the ends of the main frame, wheels mountedsuccessively onV the auxiliary frames, and means for driving the wheels.a

2. A truck unit for motor vehicles e111- bodying a main frame adapted tobe centrally pivoted on an end ot' the vehicle axle, a plurality ofsuccessive groups ot' wheels independently hung from said frame foroscillatory movement, and means for driving the wheels.

3. A truck unit for motor vehicles einbodying a main :trame adapted tobe centrally pivoted on an end of the vehicle axle7 a plurality ofsuccessive groups oit wheels independently hung from said frame, andmeans for driving the wheels.

Il. A truck unit for motor vehicles emloodying a main trarne adapted tobecen- 5 trally pivoted on an end of the vehicle axle.3 a plurality ofgroups of wheels independently hung from each end of the frame, andmeans :tor driving the wheels.

HARRY A. KNX.

